E-brake adjustment caused squeaking

I recently tightened up my e-brake, since i could count 40 something clicks and the truck would still roll. I tightened up the bracket under the truck so now there is less than 20 clicks and it now holds the truck very well. However, i just noticed a squeaking noise coming from the drivers side of the truck. I know the leaf springs creak but this is much higher pitched. I am wondering if i possibly overtightened the e-brake and now its pushing on the brakes when dissengaged. The sound goes away when i push the brakes, any ideas?

 

Thanks, i have ruled out the leaf springs since i know the sound they make. This is a much higher pitched grinding like bad brakes, they screech when im driving. What doesn't make sense is that my brakes have preformed perfectly and still do, so i doubt the pads are bad. I've screwed around with the e-brake when the truck was off the only sound that they made was the clicking noise inside. When i tightened the cable up i moved the arm a good inch, does this seem like to much?

 

Did you check the condition of your rear drums/shoes?

You may have over-tightened the ebrake cable causing the shoes to drag on the drum.

Before adjusting an e-brake cable, you should always check your drums/shoes first to make sure they're good and adjusted properly.

 

Woops, i never checked is there anything in particular i should be looking for. Besides if they're dragging, because i really need the ebrake to work however this noise is annoying as hell.

 

While it's making the noise, try pulling on the E brake handle to see if it goes away. Just pull enough to slow the truck a little. If it goes away, or changes pitch, then it's something with the E brake. If not, than possibly something else.

 

I did try that, however the sound remained the same. The squeak does sound like something is dragging, when im going slow it only squeaks at a certain point. Like something is dragging in only one spot.

 

thanks man

 

Yeah, OK, then try chris4x4's idea. It makes sense to me. It should be the cause.

 

Ultimately....if your brakes are dragging, it'll be a beotch to get the drums off. So, you might have to put some slack back in the parking brake cable to relax the shoes so you can remove the drum.

Good Luck

 

sounds like you overtightend the ebrake cable and your last discription of only hearing the squeak part way around, the rear drum is more than likely out of round. the best way and it may differ for your truck is to jack the rear of the truck up set the ebrake 1 click and spin the rear tire adjust the cable tension so there is just a slight drag from the ebrake.

 

Alright so i finally found some time to work on the squeak today and when i removed the drum and the inside was dirty as hell. This is my first experience working with drum brakes so i have some stupid questions.
Prior to removing the drum, when i would turn it i could hear some grinding and squeaking. When i took the drum off and turned it there was no sound. I cleaned all the dirt out with brake cleaner and cleaned the shoe which was still pretty smooth, there were a few streaks on it. The outside of the drum had some rust on it. I put the drum back on and the noise remained. So i tried screwing around with the ebrake. I loosened it up under the truck and after setting the brake and releasing it, it would't go all the way back down. I sprayed the springs on the ebrake and it did nothing so i pushed the ebrake fully in by hand and it would still grind when i spun it.
Any more ideas?

 

I was alittle confused after reading through that. Is the adjuster your talking about inside the drum or on the back with the spring?

 

Ill be able to figure it out, ill try screwing with that tomorrow. I kind of thought that all the dirt and mud might have been causing the problem, apparently not. When i adjusted the ebrake under the truck, could it have affected the adjuster inside the drum.

 

When i was reading on ttora about adjusting the ebrake it said it was suppose to be 20 clicks. Mine was at 40 and i tighten it up to 20 something, so im having a tough time understanding how i overtightened it.